Supreme Court Quashes Convictions of Two Traders for Benchmark Rate Manipulation

Two financial traders, Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, who were previously convicted of manipulating interest rates, have had their convictions overturned by the UK's Supreme Court. The court found that the trial jury was misinformed, leading to unsafe convictions. This decision has significant implications for the finance industry and the way benchmark rates are regulated.

Key Takeaways:

• Tom Hayes, a former trader at Citigroup and UBS, was found guilty of multiple counts of conspiracy to defraud over manipulating the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (Libor) between 2006 and 2010.
• Carlo Palombo, ex-vice president of euro rates at Barclays bank, was found guilty of conspiring with others to submit false or misleading Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor) submissions between 2005 and 2009.
• The Supreme Court panel of five justices found that there was "ample evidence" for a jury to convict the two men, but the jury was not properly directed, rendering their convictions unsafe.
• The court's decision is a significant blow to the prosecution, which will need to reconsider their cases and potentially retry the men.
• The judgment highlights the importance of proper jury direction in ensuring fair trials.

Statistics:

• 82-page judgment issued by the Supreme Court
• 14 years: The original jail sentence handed to Tom Hayes in 2015, which was later lowered to 11 years
• 4 years: The jail sentence handed to Carlo Palombo in 2019
• 2006-2010: The period during which Tom Hayes was alleged to have manipulated Libor rates
• 2005-2009: The period during which Carlo Palombo was alleged to have manipulated Euribor rates

Sources:

• The Guardian [1]
• BBC News [2]

Note: [1] The Guardian, "Tom Hayes: Former Barclays trader's conviction for Libor rate manipulation is quashed"

[2] BBC News, "Supreme Court quashes convictions of traders Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo"